Notorious Beam Team

Well done for winning the IPA Effectiveness Grand Prix 2008.

You can always rely on Johnnie Walker Blue to do things properly. So true to form, they have absolutely nailed this. It could barely be more luxurious. Great idea.

From Luxist

"Some special books come with online access codes bringing additional insight into the topic, a beautiful handmade bookmark or an original signature of the author but the 'By Appointment Only' diary from Johnnie Walker Blue Label is more than just a place to log your writings -- it is a doorway to exclusive events and services. Included in this expensive holiday package are tickets to the Monaco Grand Prix 2009 and Johnnie Walker Golf Championships, a bespoke blending experience with a Johnnie Walker Master Blender creating your very own whisky, and access to a premiere concierge service offering more Johnnie Walker experiences at your fingertips.

The leather bound diary, of which there are only three, is priced at an impressive £95,000 and comes from luxury stationer Aspinal of London. There are an additional twenty diaries available for £2,000 with access to the services and events above as well -- the difference in price I am sure accounts for less luxurious accommodations or some other discrepancy in experience but nonetheless would make a spectacular gift."

Good for getting talked about.

This embarassing story is from the just-drinks site:

"Diageo has been forced to apologise to the organisers of a Scotch whisky awards, for voting repeatedly for its own brands.

"Kevin Erskine, the owner of thescotchblog.com, noticed earlier this week that a raft of votes for the upcoming 'Drammies' had been sent from the same URL, at Diageo. Speaking to The Guardian, Erskine said: "I noticed some of the votes were coming in with the same format, the same two addresses and the same votes. They were clever enough to use different names each time, but the URL was the same."

"When contacted by just-drinks today (16 January), a spokesperson for Diageo said: "What we have here is an over-exuberant brand manager in the US who sent an ill-advised round-robin note to a number of his colleagues urging them to vote for our brands in the Drammies.

""We certainly don't condone this behaviour, and have apologised to the organisers of the Drammies."

"Diageo's Johnnie Walker Scotch brand has been nominated for a Drammie."

Thanks to Ian Buxton for this one. There is more information on the Drammies on inebrio.

More in Contagious.

This launched in Singapore. Agency: OgilvyOne

Very weird post from BoingBoing:

"Chop open the humanoid piñata corpse, rip away her skin, then nosh out on what's inside. The wounds you create "bleed" edible blood."